Why do preschool children often struggle to follow two requests at the same time?

Preschool children often struggle to follow two requests simultaneously because their cognitive development is still in an early stage, particularly in relation to working memory. At this age, children are typically developing the ability to hold and manipulate information in their minds, but they may not yet have the capacity to juggle multiple instructions effectively. The concept of working memory is crucial here; it refers to the ability to temporarily store and manage information needed to carry out complex tasks.

When a child is given two requests at the same time, such as "Please pick up the toy and put it in the box," they may find it challenging to keep both actions in mind and execute them in the correct order. Their cognitive processing is still very much in a phase where they focus on one task at a time, leading to difficulties when expecting them to multitask or manage more than one piece of information simultaneously.

In contrast, while factors like distraction, understanding, and fear of consequences can affect a child's compliance with tasks or requests, the primary hurdle in following multiple requests accurately is rooted in their developing cognitive skills and ability to process multiple instructions at once.